Wilson Law Firm Blog

Date: 09/24/2012 Location: Ramsey County District Court Charge(s): Misdemeanor Theft (Receiving Stolen Property) Result: Case Dismissed Result Explanation: Attorney Thomas A. Wilson negotiated a pretrial diversion program for his client in which the prosecutor agreed to suspend prosecution and dismiss the case after successful completion of the program. Mr. Wilson’s client successfully completed the pretrial diversion program and the case was dismissed.

Date: 08/16/2012 Location: Anoka County District Court Result: The Judge Granted an Order expunging (sealing) the client’s criminal record (1997 Felony Drug Possession), including the BCA and other executive branch records. Result Explanation: Attorney Thomas A. Wilson drafted and filed his client’s expungement petition and included a legal memorandum which argued that his client’s criminal conviction records, including the BCA and other executive branch records, …

Date: 5/18/2012 Location: Hennepin County District Court Charge(s): Third-Degree (Gross Misdemeanor) DWI (Minn. Stat. Sec. 169A.20.1(1)) Result: The Court held the state trooper made an illegal/unconstitutional traffic stop and granted an order suppressing evidence and dismissing the case based on lack of probable cause. Result Explanation: Attorney Thomas A. Wilson researched, drafted and submitted a pretrial motion to suppress evidence, and upon the event of …

Minnesota law allows individuals to expunge their criminal records in certain limited circumstances. There are two types of criminal record expungement in Minnesota: “statutory expungment” and “inherent authority expungement.” Statutory expungement is governed (as the name indicates) by statute (Minn. Stat. Ch. 609A). Inherent authority expungement, on the other hand, is governed by the inherent authority of the court. This …

Minnesota law allows individuals to expunge their criminal records in certain limited circumstances. There are two types of criminal record expungement in Minnesota: “statutory expungment” and “inherent authority expungement.” Statutory expungement is governed, as the name indicates, by statute. Inherent authority expungement, on the other hand, is governed by the inherent authority of the court. This post will focus on …

The Minnesota Implied Consent Law The Minnesota Implied Consent Law requires that anyone who “drives, operates, or is in physical control” of a motor vehicle in Minnesota consents to be subject to Minnesota DWI Law and the Implied Consent Law. The Implied Consent Law further requires a person to submit to a chemical test of their blood, breath, or urine …

Standard Field Sobriety Tests (SFST) are typically given when an police officer has reasonable articulable suspicion that a driver has violated Minnesota DWI law. The failure of one or more of the SFSTs can be used by an police officer to establish probable cause to make a valid DWI arrest. So what exactly are the Standard Field Sobriety Tests? The …

DWI arrests in Minnesota frequently begin with a traffic stop made by a police officer or state patrol trooper. After the stop there is generally a sequence of actions taken by the officer if they suspect the driver has violated Minnesota DWI law. There are of course, legal and illegal (constitutional and unconstitutional) ways of both initiating a traffic stop and …